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Art-O-Bot: McNiven, Donovan, Templeton

Welcome back to the one and only Art-O-Bot, the column designed to bring you a taste of what is out there in the world of comic book art. This week we’re featuring two veterans of the industry and a good friend from South of the border. Art-O-Bot; transform and roll out!

Steve McNiven

A while back a company called CrossGen was producing a whole slew of talent; One of those talents was Steve McNiven. McNiven’s art shot to popularity with Marvel Comics 2006 event Civil War, but his other titles included Fantastic Four and New Avengers. Most recently McNiven worked on Wolverine: Old Man Logan, a story that takes us to a future where Wolverine is a shell of his former furious self. Old Man Logan also reunites Steve with fan favorite uber-writer Mark Millar. The conclusion of this story is coming out in a giant one-shot in the middle of August, I eagerly await Steve’s next project.

In the meantime you can check out Steve’s art at his official blog or head on over to the forums at Jinxworld to see more.

Ty Templeton

It’s the 1990’s, Marvel and DC have just crossed over and they announced a series of books to cash in on the success of the crossover. Enter Amalgam Comics and the book everyone was waiting for: Dark Claw Adventures, written by Ty Templeton. Dark Claw combined the characters of Wolverine and Batman, how frakkin’ cool is that? Beyond Dark Claw, Ty’s list of credits as both writer and artist is quite vast.

Templeton is a local Toronto talent and that’s why we’re featuring him on Art-O-Bot, but we must mention his great work at Canada’s own Max the Mutt. It’s one thing to inspire people by the books you help create, but Ty goes a step further and actually teaches aspiring artists and story tellers how to create in his Comic Illustration and Art course at Max the Mutt; one of the premiere animation and art schools in the world.

So I picked up a book a few months back, it was called Youngblood. Now I know what your thinking… “What the hell is wrong with you Jeff, why would you pick up a Rob Liefeld book?“. Stop there dear reader, I can assure you that the new guard at Image Comics take what Liefeld started and make it so much better. Derec is one of the hidden gems of the industry, his style is dynamic and full of energy. He’s not just one of the guys who achieved the impossible by making Youngblood good, he’s also done work for DC and some incredible independent work. Grab a commission or sketchbook if you see Derec at a con, they are well worth your hard earned dollars.